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as the general secretary of an allotment association, with 14 sites, over 850 plots, and approx 650 tenants ( some with more than one plot) I am interested in the running costs of allotments. Our association, Great Yarmouth & Gorleston Allotments Association Ltd, affiliated to both NSALG and the RHS, manages our association for less than 16 thousand pounds per annum. (this includes room hire for meetings / presentations, insurance costs, affiliation fees, water costs, accountants / auditors fees, postage and printing, maintenance, etc etc)

could you let me know how your council manages to spend ‘around’ 61 thousand pounds on 525 plots?

How am I biased? I have not got an allotment? I a not a politician or a councillor? I am a taxpayer and would like to know that the taxpayers are getting value for money and if allotments can be run as effectively and for less cost then I am all for it.

I see what you did there, you believed the Council's figures didn't you.

They said the average allotment is 5.06 poles in area and costs £32.62, but at £6.94 per pole a plot of 5.06 poles should cost £35.12.

The Council's accounts show that they've taken £18,233 in rent, so if the average plot costs £32.62 then that suggests there are 559 plots, but if the average plot is 5.06 poles then that suggest there are 519 plots. As it happens the Council only refund outgoing tenants if they apply for a refund so some of that revenue comes from selling the same plot twice.

They also said they budgeted to subsidise the service with £42,500, but actually they budgeted to subsidise by £43,200, but they happened to generate £18,200 of revenue rather than the £17,500 they'd budgeted for.

Rather than these minor discrepancies it's probably more interesting to look at the £42,500 that self-management would have saved the tax-payer - and of course that doesn't include any apportionment of the several hundred thousand pounds of back-office admin and stuff that the Council didn't mention.

I felt I was embarrassing the Committee; generally because I believed the Council would not work with the Society whilst I was involved, and specifically because the Council had served me with a notice that my flag was breaking some imagined site rule and the Committee felt unable to support me.

I felt I was embarrassing the Committee; generally because I believed the Council would not work with the Society whilst I was involved, and specifically because the Council had served me with a notice that my flag was breaking some imagined site rule and the Committee felt unable to support me.